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Toby Enstrom Out Indefinitely With Concussion

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It took so long because of the swelling in his face, but Paul Maurice has finally given an update on injured defenseman Toby Enstrom. The Winnipeg Jets head coach reports that he’s out indefinitely with a concussion after sustaining a blow from behind by the Penguins’ Tom Sestito. Sestito was suspended four games for the hit, which caused Enstrom to go straight to the hospital with expected facial fractures.  Sara Orlesky of TSN reports that there are no fractures, actually good news for the Winnipeg defenseman.

With Tyler Myers still out, and Josh Morrisey banged up and missing practice—though the latter is still expected to play—the Jets’ usually deep defense corps is dwindling by the day. Enstrom has logged close to 22 minutes a night for Winnipeg this season, which will now have to be spread out mostly to Morrisey and Ben Chiarot. Enstrom’s regular partner Dustin Byfuglien already logs the most minutes in the NHL at 27:23 per game, and will now be relied on even more if the Jets still have playoff aspirations.

In a year where the Western Conference is actually wide open, the Jets remain just five points out of the final playoff spot. They have, however, played three more games than the St. Louis Blues, the team currently occupying that final wildcard position. The Jets will need some sort of streak over their last 14 games to both catch St. Louis and fend off the Los Angeles Kings, something that they haven’t proved capable of this year. At 30-32-6, it looks like not even Patrik Laine’s emergence and Mark Scheifele’s climb to the top of the center ranks can help them in 2017.

Snapshots: Cunningham, Halverson, Sestito

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Earlier this season Tucson Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice and was rushed to hospital. The 26-year old forward’s heart had stopped for an unknown reason, and needed ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) treatment to save his life. The procedure affected the circulation in his leg, and he had to make a decision. Tucson’s general manager Doug Soetaert put it this way to AZCentral’s Jeremy Cluff:

It’s life or limb, and obviously you pick life over limb, right? That was the way he’s moving forward. He’s been battling through the whole thing. We continue to battle with him. He’s going to make it.

Cunningham had part of his left leg amputated, but is now walking again with the help of a prosthetic. Ray Ferraro sent out a video of Cunningham walking down a hallway, dubbing it “the most awesome thing [he’s] seen in while.” It truly is awesome to see Cunningham up and walking again, and most importantly smiling as he approaches the camera. Everyone is wishing him luck as he gets his life back on track.

  • The New York Rangers will be without Rick Nash and Henrik Lundqvist tonight when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Both are day-to-day with minor injuries. The team has recalled Brandon Halverson from the ECHL on an emergency basis to replace Lundqvist, meaning Antti Raanta will be in net. Halverson was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2014 and made his professional debut this season for the Hartford Wolfpack before heading to the ECHL. The 20-year old will get a taste of an NHL arena at least as he backs up Raanta tonight.
  • Tom Sestito will have a phone hearing with the NHL today after his hit on Toby Enstrom last night. The check from behind sent Enstrom to the hospital with possible facial fractures, and led to more aggressive play between the two teams last night. Amazingly, Sestito was only on the ice for 62 seconds last night, and was involved in a fight and this illegal check before being thrown out of the game. The 29-year old enforcer had been called up earlier that day to lend some physicality to the Penguins line up not, as Jets’ head coach Paul Maurice put it, “to dangle”.

Ondrej Pavelec Out With Injury

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After starting eight of the Winnipeg Jets’ nine games since he was called up from the AHL in mid-January, Ondrej Pavelec will take a seat once again. After leaving Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild, coach Paul Maurice confirmed today that Pavelec has suffered a lower body injury. The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe reports that Pavelec is expected to be out “about a week”.

With Pavelec back out of the picture, the Jets will return to their young duo of Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson for the next week and beyond. When Pavelec was recalled on January, Winnipeg made the decision not to subject the 26-year-old Hutchinson to waivers and to instead carry three goalies. However, in the last month, Hutchinson has not made a single appearance, while Hellebuyck had just one start before relieving Pavelec on Tuesday. The pair have been less than stellar this season anyway; Hellebuyck has been the better of the two with 17 wins, a .909 SV%, and 2.78 GAA in 36 appearances, while Hutchinson has just four wins and a ghastly .894 SV% and 3.23 GAA in 20 appearances.

Despite getting nearly all the ice time in net since his resurrection from the minors, Pavelec has not been all that successful either. In fact, he’s actually been worse than Hellebuyck and Hutchinson. Pavelec currently has a 4-4 record with a horrid .888 SV% and 3.55 GAA. Granted, that is only through eight games, but the Jets may actually be better suited with Pavelec injured and out of the lineup. Winnipeg has just 54 points on the season through 56 contests, which puts them in fifth in the Central Division. While they sit just five points back of the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, they have played two or more games than all three teams chasing them for that berth: the Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and Vancouver Canucks. The playoffs seem like a long shot for the Jets, and going forward it is Hellebuyck that is the goalie of the future. Increased play time for the young keeper down the stretch rather than the ten-year veteran and impending free agent would be the logical move. Though Pavelec has dedicated his career to the Thrashers/Jets franchise, his preseason demotion and poor play at the NHL level in 2016-17 clearly signal that his time is over. Winnipeg would be better served long-term to give Hellebuyck the majority of starts for the remainder of the season.

Tyler Myers Undergoes Surgery; Out At Least 6-8 Weeks

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Tyler Myers, who has already missed the last 39 games, will be out at least another 6 – 8 weeks after undergoing surgery yesterday, Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice revealed. The news was announced via the team’s official Twitter account.

At best, Myers will be back around the third week of March, giving him approximately 11 games to shake off the rust. At worst, there may only be a couple of games remaining on the schedule and if the Jets are out of postseason contention at that point, they may decide to pull the plug on a return altogether.

It’s been a disappointing campaign for the 6-foot-8 rearguard, who has appeared in just 11 games on the season for the Jets with two goals and five points. Myers was originally acquired by Winnipeg as part of a February 2015 trade with Buffalo that saw winger Evander Kane head to the Sabres. He registered nine goals and 27 points in 2015-16, his first full campaign as a member of the Jets. He won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2009-10 after a 48-point campaign as a 20-year-old with Buffalo.

The Jets still have talent on the blue line, with Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom and Jacob Trouba all capable, top-four defenseman. However, Myers’ absence has obviously impacted the team’s depth and the Jets could use some help on the third pair, which has struggled at times this season. The situation could prompt the Jets to look to the rental trade market to add a depth defender in the event the worst case scenario plays out and Myers misses the rest of the regular season.

Burmistrov Filling Need At Center For Coyotes

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After an active offseason in which rookie GM John Chayka aggressively added pieces to supplement a talented young core, it was expected the Arizona Coyotes would be an improved team; maybe not quite a playoff team, but better than the group that finished the 2015-16 campaign with 78 points. Instead the club is on pace for a 65-point season, and much of the reason for the team’s struggles are related to the lack of quality NHL-ready centers.

Injuries to Brad Richardson and Martin Hanzal exacerbated the situation leading Chayka to seek help, both via the waiver wire and through trade. The Coyotes acquired centers Josh Jooris and Peter Holland from the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs respectively in a three day span in December. While those additions helped bridge the gap for the short term, it was a later acquisition that may prove out to be a steal for Arizona.

On January 2nd, the Coyotes were awarded their waiver claim on forward Alex Burmistrov, a talented but underachieving former first-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers. Visa issues delayed his debut with his new team but in six games since entering the lineup, Burmistrov has tallied six points and as Craig Morgan writes in a piece for Fan Rag Sports Network, the 25-year-old is fitting in well with his new club.

Head coach Dave Tippett feels that the addition of Burmistrov, along with the improved play of Christian Dvorak has helped stabilize the center ice position in Arizona:

“We’ve stabilized our center ice a little bit with adding Burmistrov and the growth of [Christian] Dvorak,” Tippett said. “[Burmistrov] has filled a hole at center ice, where he’s good with the puck, he can distribute the puck and [he’s got] good skill and good vision.”

Prior to joining the Coyotes, Burmistrov posted just two points, both assists, in 23 games. While he’s shown flashes of high-end skill at times during his career, Burmistrov’s career-best single-season performance came during the 2011-12 campaign when he netted 13 goals and 28 points.

Burmistrov feels that the opportunity to play in different situations in Arizona has played a part in his strong start:

“That’s the way I grew up playing: in the key situations all the way around. Penalty kill, power play,” he said. “The big thing is coaching trust so I have to keep doing well and don’t let him down. This is a big opportunity for me.”

It should be noted that six games is of course a small sample and his previous coach, Paul Maurice, simply was unwilling to trust Burmistrov to kill penalties or play in key situations:

“Alex has a real strong view of what he’s good at,” Maurice told reporters after Burmistrov was waived. “That’s the most important thing: that a coach and player agree on what they’re good at and then the coach will put them in the position to succeed. Alex and I never would really agree on that.

“Alex and I have had a number of conversations about what he was hoping to have here. I just had other players ahead of him and the role he was looking for wasn’t here.”

Whether or not Burmistrov continues to excel with his new opportunity remains to be seen. However, the low-risk nature of the acquisition is exactly the type of move teams like the Coyotes, clubs who usually don’t spend to the salary cap ceiling, should always be willing to make. The type of skill Burmistrov boasts is hard to find on the open market and despite his inability to earn a regular role with the Jets sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery to turn around a player’s career.

Burmistrov’s solid play may also give the team more confidence as they entertain offers for Hanzal. If they do find a suitor willing to meet their asking price for Hanzal, instead of exposing prospects to too much too soon they have Burmistrov on the roster to take up some of the responsibilities.

Central Notes: Darling, Subban, Tarasenko, Maurice

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The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 1-0 Friday night thanks to another stellar game from Scott Darling. Darling has been superb this season, and as it usually goes for the Blackhawks, is due a pay raise when his contract expires after this season. Mark Lazerus writes that even with all the success, Darling is quick to credit his teammates for any one of his performances while also counting Corey Crawford as “one of the best goalies in the world.” In Darling’s mind, Lazerus reports, there is no goalie controversy, no matter how strong Darling continues to play.

In other Central Division news:

  • The return of P.K. Subban will continue to be a  delicate process writes the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. Subban was supposed to play less in last night’s game but ended up logging 23 minutes of ice time. Vingan also reports that just having Subban’s presence in the lineup proves to be an immediate boon for the Predators’ possession game. With the Preds winning five of their last six, Vingan adds that there’s no rush for Subban to return to pre-injury form.
  • Stuck on 20 goals for a half dozen games, Jeremy Rutherford reports that Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock will move Vladimir Tarasenko in an effort to generate scoring. Tarasenko will move to a line with Patrik Berglund and Robby Fabbri since Berglund has notched 10 goals in his last 16 games. Rutherford adds that Berglund cannot recall ever being on the same line with Tarasenko in his five years with the Blues.
  • The Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen doesn’t envy  Jets bench boss Paul Maurice in having to deal with all of the different personalities on the team. But he is “puzzled” by Maurice’s approach. Friesen compares Maurice’s handling of 20-year-old Nik Ehlers with that of 31-year-old Dustin Byfuglien, and just how different it is working with a veteran and a rookie. Friesen reports that while Maurice was quick to explain Ehler’s shortcomings, he’s unsure as to why a veteran like Byfuglien is immune to the same critiques. He just wonders how Maurice will get a more consistent effort out of both players.

Patrik Laine Returns To Ice, Still No Timetable For Return

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Some good news for Winnipeg Jets fans this morning: Patrik Laine skated this morning.

It was the first time Laine has skated since suffering a concussion earlier this month. Despite the good news, head coach Paul Maurice re-iterated that “there is no time-frame” for his star rookie’s return. When asked about how the young left winger looked, Maurice said Laine looked fantastic, but jokingly complained that “his shot is off.”

Laine was concussed in a head-on-head collision with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe back on January 7. McCabe also took some damage in the hit. TSN analyst and former NHLer Shane Hnidy reported that Laine will be monitored daily to “determine progress going forward.”

Laine had been having a tremendous offensive season before being hurt; he had 21 goals and 37 points in 42 games. At the time of the concussion, Laine was tied for third in league goal scoring with Auston Matthews. While Matthews has passed Laine by one goal and one point, Laine’s offensive numbers have been very impressive. Laine and Matthews appear to be two of the frontrunners for the Calder Trophy, provided Laine is able to return soon and continue scoring at the same pace.

Jets Update Laine’s Condition

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Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice announced today that Patrik Laine did indeed suffer a concussion as a result of a hard hit delivered by Buffalo’s Jake McCabe during the third period of yesterday’s game. Maurice added that there is currently no timetable for the talented rookie winger’s return.

Laine was attempting to receive a pass in the neutral zone when McCabe stepped up and put a body on the 18-year-old Finn. According to Maurice, the two players ended up butting heads during the initial collision. Laine then hit the back of his head on the ice as he fell following the hit. After the game, Maurice said he had “no issue” with the hit.

The second overall pick in the June 2016 draft, Laine is tied for third in the league in goals scored (21) with the player chosen ahead of him, Auston Matthews. He was in the midst of a nice stretch of hockey, tallying two goals and five assists in four games prior to the injury. It’s impossible to overstate how important Laine is to the Jets and with the team struggling to find consistency, losing him for a long period would be a damaging blow to their playoff chances.

Western Notes: Jost, Dano, Coyotes

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When the Colorado Avalanche picked Tyson Jost 10th overall this year out of Penticton, they knew he was headed to the NCAA. After all, Jost played in the BCHL, an NCAA breeding ground because they retain eligibility unlike the CHL. But now it sounds like it will be one-and-done for Jost at the University of North Dakota.

Mike Chambers of the Denver Post writes in his latest column that Jost will sign after his freshman season concludes and may even make his NHL debut this season. The 18-year old center has 18 points in 17 games for the Fighting Hawks, and is starring for Canada at the World Juniors. For a team that is starved for something positive this year, the development of Jost is something to look forward to. He will likely slot in full time next season with the club, especially if one of their other young forwards is moved out between now and then.

  • After head coach Paul Maurice told us yesterday that Marko Dano would be out at least a few weeks, he clarified the diagnoses today. Dano will miss eight weeks with his lower-body injury, keeping him out until just before the trade deadline. The former first-round pick (by Columbus in 2013) has 10 points in 28 games this year, a solid pace for the 22-year old. He’ll have another setback now though as he misses more time. Jets fans will have to wait jut a little bit longer to see his potential come to fruition.
  • The Arizona Coyotes will watch two of their prized prospects battle it out today in the Canada-USA World Junior game. Clayton Keller and Dylan Strome each lead their respective teams in scoring at the tournament, and will be big parts of the Coyotes in the future. While Strome got a taste of the NHL this season before heading back to Erie in the OHL, Keller has been starring as a freshman at Boston University all year. 15 points in his first 10 games in the NCAA it won’t be long until he jumps to the AHL. Both top-10 picks, the Coyotes have a bright future in this tournament.

Western Conference Notes: Maurice, Blues, Jankowski

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Despite a talented roster led by #1 center Mark Scheifele (31 points in 33 games), team captain Blake Wheeler (26 points), rookie phenom Patrik Laine (19 goals) and big blue liner Dustin Byfuglien (22 points), the Winnipeg Jets have a disappointing 16 – 17 – 3 record and are three points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It’s perhaps not surprising that reports began circulating suggesting the job of veteran bench boss Paul Maurice could be in jeopardy, but as Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press writes, there is simply nothing to those rumors.

Wiecek points out that the Jets ownership is “loyal to a fault,” and references former head coach Claude Noel as an example of that loyalty. Noel served as the team’s head coach for their first two-and-a-half seasons in Manitoba but mustered just a record of 80 – 79 – 18 and failed to lead the Jets to the postseason before being dismissed during the 2013-14 season. Wiecek believes the team kept Noel around “long after it had become readily apparent to everyone else that an AHL coach was all Noel was ever going to be.”

The scribe also suggests the team still believes Maurice is the right coach to turn “a room full of young talent and inexperience into the kind of club that can compete night in and night out with the best in the league.”

Finally, in response to the belief the Jets have under-performed, Wiecek takes the position that the team has performed exactly as should be expected; like a young team with plenty of peaks and valleys.

It should also be noted that the Jets play in a tough division, one that sent five teams to the postseason a year ago. While the Central may not be as strong this season as the Metro Division, an argument can certainly be made that they could easily boast five playoff squads again this spring

Elsewhere in the West:

  • Jeremy Rutherford hosted his weekly chat with readers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently and tackled several issues related to the Blues. Naturally much of the talk was about how the Blues can improve their roster and while there may not have been much in the way of concrete trade rumors, Rutherford acknowledged the team desperately wants to add both speed and a proven top-six center ahead of the deadline. Of course the one asset St. Louis might be able to move to address their needs is defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency next summer. Though as appealing as Shattenkirk might be to other teams, his value is limited unless any team looking to acquire the puck-moving blue liner has an indication they might be able to extend the pending free agent. It’s also not certain the Blues will be too interested in dealing Shattenkirk if they are in possession of a playoff berth at the deadline. Last season, GM Doug Armstrong held onto David Backes and Troy Brouwer, both of whom would leave the team after the season and demonstrating the veteran GM will only sell off an expiring asset if it improves his chances to win today.
  • The Calgary Flames surprised some when they went off the board to select center Mark Jankowski in the first round of the 2012 draft. While most teams weren’t sold on Jankowski, then-Flames GM Jay Feaster called him the best player in the draft and compared the pivot to former Calgary star Joe Nieuwendyk. It took four years but Jankowski finally made his NHL debut earlier this season, and as Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald reports, he is looking forward to working his way back into the league and earning a permanent position. But first, Jankowski, in his first full season as a pro, knows he has to dominate at the AHL level: “Obviously it was a good experience to get up there to see what it’s all about and play my first game, to see what type of game it is,” he said. “It’s a lot faster and guys are bigger and stronger. They’re all just a bit more skilled. Coming back to Stockton, it’s huge motivation for me to see what it’s like if I want to be there full-time.I have to come down here and dominate and play my game.” 

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